Starting at 0 time vs. Obtaining a PPL before ATP

Student Experiences
1

Hey Guys,

The price difference between the 40 hour multi-engine ATP experience with a Private Pilots License seems to roughly be $16,747 ($69,995-$53,995 = $16,747). If I am correct, it is fair to assume that ATP is valuing their private pilot program with 80 hours at $16,747. If I were to make the decision to go elsewhere to obtain my PPL to save money, is it safe to say that finding a CFI whose rates are below $16,747 and can offer 80hours is a cheaper route than starting at ATP from 0 time?

Thanks,
Alex

2

Alex,

I’ll be frank. Good luck. Anyone can advertise a price to obtain a rating,
but the advertised price is the MINIMUM cost to obtain a rating. Who is to
say that you, or anyone else, I’m only using you as an example, can
complete a PPL course under ATP’s price? Mom and pop flight schools are
notorious for extending a student’s training for various reasons. Before
you know it, you could be paying almost double than you planned. IF you are
going to go this route, I would investigate the school very carefully.

Something else you need to consider is that if you were to get your PPL
elsewhere, I can almost guarantee that you will have to unlearn bad habits
when you get to ATP. Not only that, but you will also have to learn ATP’s
policies and procedures. Each flight school will require you to fly their
airplanes their way.

So, my point is, lean more towards quality over quantity. If you think
you’d be better off getting your PPL somewhere else, then by all means. A
lot of pilots started their careers this way, myself included. At the time,
I didn’t have much choice, though.

I will say, the one good thing that I appreciated about getting my PPL at a
local school, was that it gave me the extra time that I needed to
assimilate the information. In a sense, I wasn’t ready for ATP’s
accelerated program, but for me, it wasn’t about saving money. It was about
doing what was right for me based on my learning abilities.

Now that ATP has changed their program from 6-9 months, if I were to do it
all over again, I would have chosen to get all of my ratings at ATP. 6
months is doable, but 9 months would have taken the pressure off. By the
end of my training at ATP, I eventually became acclimated to the pace of
the program.

Everyone has different needs and learning styles. Choose whichever path is
best for you, but do it for the right reasons.

Tory

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3

Alex,

I have no doubt you can find a local flight school that offers lower hourly rates. It’s your money, your call but everything that Tory states is dead on. I’ll give you one more thing to consider. At ATP you’ll earn your PPL and the 80hrs in 3mos. Pilots have a very finite amount of years they can fly since they MUST retire at age 65. EVERY day you delay is one less day off you career, that’s a fact. Let’s no put that in dollars and cents. Senior Capts at Major airlines earn in excess of $300k per year which equals $25k a month. If it takes you 1 extra month (which I’m fairly certain it will be considerably more) that’s $25k you’ll never see. Factor in years of 401k contributions etc and even if you save half you’re in the whole. Factor in the quality of the training and everything else Tory covered and to me it’s not a question. That said again your money, your call.

Adam

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4

If you have 0 time, I would recommend starting at ATP. I came in credit for private and like Tory said, there were definitely some bad habits I had to break. Not only was I trying to study for the instrument checkride, I also had to learn a new airplane and new SOPs, where the people there from private have already been flying the airplane for 80hrs and are used to the ways ATP does their training. Starting from 0 time with ATP you learn there SOPs from day 1, and it makes the transition to the rest of your training very easy. I forgot a lot of the private knowledge I had and it took a bit to get back to the point that I was comfortable.

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5

Would having around 33hrs already logged change the value proposition much? Im trying to do the whole get your 78 hrs to bypass PPL section at ATP. I plan to start in a years time and I’ve been saving to finish up my PPL and wanted to leave time to timebuild to get to that 78hr benchmark.

6

Nathan,

Not sure what you’re asking regarding having 33hrs? Frankly the only time we recommend getting your PPL first is if you’re not certain you’re ready to commit to the program or this career.

Regardless you either have your PPL and the required 78hrs or you don’t.

Adam

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I guess I was weighing the options and honestly put off with how much more in loans I’ll have to take out

8

Nathan,

That’s understandable. There’s no question that flight training is expensive and there’s really no way around that.

Thing is there’s this misconception that getting your PPL locally will save you a ton of money. While it’s possible, the reality is most people end up spending much more in the long run. Factor in the delay in actually getting to an airline getting your PPL locally will cost you in earnings and seniority and any possible savings quickly disappear.

Adam

9

Nathan,

Have you thought of keeping the savings you built up to support your living expenses while in the program? If you have more than that, it could be the first few months of payments towards your loan as well. No sense in burning through your savings at a local school trying to get your PPL and the 78 hours flight time. Even though the loan looks smaller you’re going to be spending the same or more doing PPL out of pocket plus that doesn’t leave you with as much savings to ease the financial burden during the program.

Hannah

10

I have a similar question that I figure would fall into the scope of this thread. I have 18 months left until I retire from the military. I have 0 time and want to spend this time as best as I can. I am working on my ground school and want to take all the written steps before starting ATP. Should I use this time to get my PPL or hold off? I understand having to learn new aircraft and new habits, but wanted to get your opinions.

11

Ricardo,

We don’t recommend you getting your PPL separately unless you are simply dipping your toes and not ready to commit to the airline career pilot program. As much as it sounds like a good idea, dragging it out over that much time ends up being very costly and not good for your proficiency in the aircraft.

If you’re trying to get ahead, the best thing you can do is get your written exams done. They are only good for 24 months, so you may want to wait a few more months.

About 9 months prior to retiring, start the admission process so you can snag a class date because they can fill up. From then, you can knock out all the written exams.

Hannah

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12

Hannah,

Thank you for the quick response.

Ricardo

13

Ricardo,

Like Hannah mentioned, I would wait no more than 9 months until you start training to do your writtens, if attending a program like ATP. I just saw another thread the other day of an individual completing 7 writtens in 46 days, they don’t take long, if you’re determined to get them done in a timely manner.

Other than that, I would recommend taking a few Introductory Flights and maybe a lesson here or there of basics to ensure that flying is something you could find yourself doing full-time. Fun fact, those few hours you do during Intro Flight and introductory lessons count towards your 1,500 hours.

Brady

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